A Red, Red Apple

"Face your destiny and enjoy your last moment."

The cat's oh so sexy and soft gentle voice echoes inside Morelli's suddenly empty brain like an extremely sweet and tempting beautiful chanson. The world comes to a silent stop around him. So this is it. He vaguely and forlornly thinks. He is going to die. As Rex. As a hamster. As Stephanie's beloved furry pet who once bit him like a hungry vampire. All alone inside a hamster cage. All alone inside a strange and unfamiliar vet clinic. All alone and far away from home. He's too numb to feel any fear. But he's not too stunned to realize he has way too many regrets. He has no chance to chase his dreams and fulfill his fate. There will never be a lovely cozy house with white picket fence. There will never be 6 laughing running kids. There will never be hot delicious dinner on his table at 6 sharp every night. There will never be washed, ironed, mended and folded clothes, socks and underwears in his closet and drawers. And Stephanie won't be there waiting for him in their bed with that beautiful smile on her face.

All because he made a stupid wish.

All because he fell for a well-planned trick.

All because he wanted his Cupcake back.

All because Ranger stole her away from him...

Kitty narrows his eyes at Joe Morelli. He can clearly sense where this angry upset and self-centered clueless man's train of thoughts is heading. How this way too hairy and stubbornly foolish man manages to remain oblivious to plain simple facts is beyond amazing. And now Kitty feel his fury, impatience and disgust rising. He's a fierce and ferocious warrior. He's noted for being smart, brave, calculating and adventurous. But he's never like those mild and polite Elves of Lothlórien. He has a temper. And he flat-out doesn't like stupid creatures, mammals, humans, idiots, whatever. He fixes his sharp eyes on the ever so dumb Italian Stallion and immediately gets Morelli's full attention. He stays silent for a moment longer than comfortable and is about to speak when out of nowhere the love of his life appears, clings to his side and purrs.

"Are you done yet? Can we go now? PleasePleasePlease?" Kkat wraps her oh so adorable long bushy and just a little bit crooked tail around Kitty's straight sleek one and tilts her head, and suddenly freezes and sniffs the air. "Rrrrrat." She whispers dreamily and locks her eyes with Morelli's. "Rrrrrrrraaaat."

Something deep down within Joe Morelli yells at him to run for his pathetic life, but he just stands there staring at Kkat. He instinctively knows he should be really, really scared and afraid of this fluffy and goofy-looking tortoiseshell cat. But somehow he simply can't take his eyes off those beautifully clear Turkey blue eyes. And something, something about this much smaller cat reminds him of everything sweet, warm, familiar and tender in his life and makes him want to cry...

A fresh-out-of-the-oven doughnut...

A perfectly baked homemade apple pie...

The cool breeze on a hot summer night

And the 16-year-old Stephanie Plum...

"Babe," Kitty sighs and in a blink of an eye morphs into a huge black panther. He then lowers his head and gently picks up Kkat by the scruff of her neck the moment she tries to swipe her claws at an immobilized Joe Morelli. Yes, he told her his lifestyle didn't lend itself to relationships. Yes, he told her he didn't do stupid things like marriage and babies. Yes, he told her his love didn't come with a ring. Yes, he told her he was not exactly family material. But did Kkat ever listen to him? No.

Kitty rolls his eyes at himself and disappears along with his drooling wife in a cloud of silver dusts. And right away a rather smug-looking black sheep pops out of thin air and raises both his heavy brows at the much-tortured Trenton police detective.

"This is your Lucky Day, Mr. Detective," Sean the Sheep says with a heavy Scottish accent and a smirk on his face, "I'm here to grant you a wish. Whether you want to have your own body back or spend the rest of your life inside a cage, it's all up to you."

And somehow Joe Morelli doesn't feel happy about it. At all...